Team Building and Responsible Conduct of Research

While team building and responsible conduct of research are essential recipes for optimizing efficient and sustainable outcomes in research, most researchers lack the know-how of how to harness different strengths of individual team members to create a cohesive synergy for effective performance. In addition, most are not trained in the application of established professional norms and ethical principles in the performance of their research activities. These weaknesses intertwine to produce poor research performance teams and outcomes. In this article, the author provides a brief overview of key considerations for building virile and effective research teams and the essential ingredients in responsible conduct of research

Research Sponsoring, Financial Management and Conflict of Interest

Although project sponsoring usually involves a formal agreement for conducting activities related to research , teaching and service between an institution and the sponsor, many institutions do not prioritise project sponsoring and ensure the inclusion of core components such as statement of work, financial accountability, institutional responsibility for sponsored projects, financial management and conflict of interest(FOCI), and institutional responsibility for FOCI in the sagreements. In addition, early career researchers are not engaged to understand the guiding principles and ethics surrounding research implementation. These often accentuate the conduct of unethical research. In this article, the author provides a brief overview of key considerations in research sponsoring

CONCEPTUALIZATION OF URBANIZATION STRUCTURE AND CLIMATE CHANGE IN LAGOS, NIGERIA

Urbanization is synonymous with environmental challenges. In developing countries, thechallenges have assumed higher dimensions proportionally due to multifarious issues of rapidchanges in the environment, due to development, through population growth andindustrialization, and accompanied by all kinds of pollution such as air pollution, wastedisposal, land use degradation, and vehicular pollution as the resultant effects of man’sinteraction with the environment. The main characteristic effect is the raised temperature of thecity centre (UHI) leading to excessive energy use for cooling and putting urban population atgreat morbidity and mortality risks. This paper literally explores the conceptual framework ofinteraction between urbanization structure and understanding social impacts of climate changeand variability for the evaluation of strategies in the urbanized environment that might serve asadaptive response to climate change. The urbanization structure that affects Lagos state isdiscussed in relation to the location of the city, the size, the population density, urbangeometry, thermal property, air pollution, land use pattern, wind speed and anthropogenicactivities. The study revealed that climate change is posing increasing challenges for citiesplacing greater stress and impacts on multiple social and biophysical systems, including urbaninfrastructure, water and energy demand simultaneously, followed by a strong global trendtowards urbanization of urban poverty. The study concluded that climate change has impactedgreatly on virtually all the socio-economic aspects of man

DEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A 2kVA FUELLESS GENERATOR

Electricity supply has been unreliable for a long period in Nigeria. The energy generating capacity has the potential to generate 12,522 MW of electric power from existing plant, however, approximately 4650 MW is daily generated. Consequently, most homes and industries use internal combustion engine generating sets as an alternative to power grid failure. This does not only contribute to the amount of CO2 that people inhale in the atmosphere but also contributes to ozone layer depletion and climate change. The need for new energy generating sources with no negative impact on our environment had led to several alternatives cleaner source of power that is environmentally friendly and affordable for the masses. In response to this, a fuelless generator was developed using local materials to serve as a standby generator against the incessant power outage. The generator was developed by using a D.C battery, D.C motor, alternator, connecting shaft, charging panel (transformer, diode and capacitor), and a frame. A 12V, 100Ah battery was used to drive a 12V DC motor which in turn spun the alternator to optimal speed to generate electrical power. The output voltage was used to power varying loads of 0W to 2KW, with efficiency reducing with load increase. This paper presents the design and construction procedures, as well as the performance evaluation of the generated result

WHALE OPTIMIZATION ALGORITHM FOR OPTIMAL LOCATION AND SIZING OF RENEWABLE DISTRIBUTED GENERATION

Renewable generation is a viable source of clean and smart energy in a modern distribution network. Thus, the synergy between photovoltaic and small-hydropower yields a complementary and uninterruptible power output. However, location and sizing mostly affect operational output. This paper presents a combined Voltage Stability Index estimation (VSI) and Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA) for the optimal allocation of renewable-based energy sources. The nodes voltage stability index is ranked to signal the whale optimization selection of candidate solution agents at each algorithm iterations. Thereby turning the Distributed Generation (DG) node selection into non-random mode to improve simulation time and performance. The WOA technique is modeled using the hunting activities of whales and analysed on IEEE 33 bus systems. The results confirm the algorithm’s improved performance of 89% voltage improvement and 48.50 power loss reduction for single PV integration. The technique ensures efficient network resource management for improved output

Development of a System Framework that Estimate Cooling Loads for Air-Conditioning System for Residential and Non-residential Buildings

Cooling Load estimation for air conditioning systems is done either by manual calculation or judgmental estimation based on experience of the air conditioning practitioner. While manual calculation is laborious, estimate based on judgment is liable to error due to gigantic, complex and dynamic nature of present day architectural designs. Load calculation through computer automation is likely to make a positive impact in the dynamic nature of air conditioning applications. This study developed computer software to handle simple and typical load estimate for air conditioning in Nigeria. The study has developed a system framework that estimate cooling loads for air-conditioning system for residential and non-residential buildings. It provides an effective and user-friendly way of introducing a residential cooling load calculation program to users. This software results compare favourably with the previous works and it can be used for educational purposes in air conditioning laboratory. Keywords: Air-conditioning, Cooling loads, Residential buildings, Syste

Growth performance, blood profile and serum metabolites of West African dwarf growing rams fed guinea grass supplemented with differently processed pigeon pea leaves

A 56-day trial was conducted to investigate the performance and blood profile of West African Dwarf growing rams fed Panicum maximum with differently processed Pigeon pea leaves, twigs, and petioles (PPL). A total of sixteen (16) rams were randomly allotted to four treatments (T1 - 100% P. maximum solely), T2 - 70% P. maximum and 30% fresh PPL), T3 - 70% P. maximum and 30% wilted PPL and T4 - 70% P. maximum and 30% dried PPL) with four animals per treatment in a completely randomized design (CRD). Growth performance and blood analysis parameters such as initial and final weight, feed intake and leftover, packed cell volume, hemoglobin, total protein, albumin, glucose were evaluated. There were significant variation (P<0.05) in all the evaluated parameters. Fresh PPL recorded the highest crude protein (CP) (22.31%), followed by wilted (21.20 %), and the least (5.30 %) was obtained in P. maximum. The phytate contents of fresh, wilted and dried PPL were 1.29%, 1.28% and 1.26% respectively while tannin contents were 1.00, 0.85 and 0.79mg/100gm in fresh, wilted and dried PPL respectively. The feed intake (5.22kg) of each ram fed the T1 diet was higher (P<0.05) than those of T2 (3.50kg), T3 (5.05kg) and T4 (4.61kg). Average, daily and weekly weight gains varied (P<0.05) in the diets in T3>T4 >T2>T1 order, while feed conversion ratio ranged between 3.48 (T3) to 7.35 (T1). The packed cell volume (PCV) and haemoglobin (Hb) ranged from 36.00% in T4 to 38.00% in T1 and 12.50g/dl in T4 to 12.40g/dl in T1 respectively. T3 diet was observed to have the highest total protein (7.00 g/dl), albumin (3.30 g/dl) and globulin (4.40 g/dl) values. From the results of a significant number of evaluated parameters, T3 proved to be the best diet of this study. However, it was concluded that the supplementation of P. maximum with either fresh, wilted or dried PPL would increase the productivity of growing rams. Keywords: WAD rams; Cajanus cajan; Panicum maximum; haematology; serum metabolite

Making Health Markets Work Better for Poor People: the Case of Informal Providers

There has been a dramatic spread of market relationships in many low- and middle-income countries. This spread has been much faster than the development of the institutional arrangements to influence the performance of health service providers. In many countries poor people obtain a large proportion of their outpatient medical care and drugs from informal providers working outside a regulatory framework, with deleterious consequences in terms of the safety and efficacy of treatment and its cost. Interventions that focus only on improving the knowledge of these providers have had limited impact. There is a considerable amount of experience in other sectors with interventions for improving the performance of markets that poor people use. This paper applies lessons from this experience to the issue of informal providers, drawing on the findings of studies in Bangladesh and Nigeria. These studies analyse the markets for informal health care services in terms of the sources of health-related knowledge for the providers, the livelihood strategies of these providers and the institutional arrangements within which they build and maintain their reputation. The paper concludes that there is a need to build a systematic understanding of these markets to support collaboration between key actors in building institutional arrangements that provide incentives for better performance.ESR

Effect of Manure Application on Herbage Yield, Nutritive Value and Performance of Wad Sheep Fed Panicum maximum

Effect of types of manure on herbage yield, nutritive value and performance of WAD Sheep fed native Panicum maximum was investigated. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with each plot replicated thrice. Poultry manure and sheep - goat manure were applied through broadcasting to an established Panicum maximum stand to supply 200kgN/ha and 0kgN/ha (control). Grass herbage harvested from experiment plot were fed as sole diets to West African dwarf sheep to determine feed intake (g/h/d), nutrient digestibility (%) and weight gain (g/h/d). Results showed that Panicum maximum fertilized with poultry manure produced (P<0.05) higher values for biomass yield, number of tillers, tiller height, leaf length and leaf width. The chemical composition of Panicum maximum fertilized with poultry manure produced (P<0.05) higher CP and GE compared to sheep-goat manure. Similar trend of result was observed on mineral composition of Panicum maximum fertilized with poultry manure produced (P<0.05) higher values for P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn and Cu compared to sheep-goat manure. The feed intake (g/h/d), nutrient digestibility (%) and weight gain of the animals fed Panicum maximum fertilized with poultry manure produced higher values compared to its counterpart. It was concluded based on data obtained from this study that poultry manure application will promote higher yield and nutritive value for the Panicum maximum. Animals fed with this as sole diet and as short feeding regime experienced high weight gain

Effect of Manure Application on Herbage Yield, Nutritive Value and Performance of Wad Sheep Fed Panicum maximum

Effect of types of manure on herbage yield, nutritive value and performance of WAD Sheep fed native Panicum maximum was investigated. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with each plot replicated thrice. Poultry manure and sheep - goat manure were applied through broadcasting to an established Panicum maximum stand to supply 200kgN/ha and 0kgN/ha (control). Grass herbage harvested from experiment plot were fed as sole diets to West African dwarf sheep to determine feed intake (g/h/d), nutrient digestibility (%) and weight gain (g/h/d). Results showed that Panicum maximum fertilized with poultry manure produced (P<0.05) higher values for biomass yield, number of tillers, tiller height, leaf length and leaf width. The chemical composition of Panicum maximum fertilized with poultry manure produced (P<0.05) higher CP and GE compared to sheep-goat manure. Similar trend of result was observed on mineral composition of Panicum maximum fertilized with poultry manure produced (P<0.05) higher values for P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn and Cu compared to sheep-goat manure. The feed intake (g/h/d), nutrient digestibility (%) and weight gain of the animals fed Panicum maximum fertilized with poultry manure produced higher values compared to its counterpart. It was concluded based on data obtained from this study that poultry manure application will promote higher yield and nutritive value for the Panicum maximum. Animals fed with this as sole diet and as short feeding regime experienced high weight gain. Keywords: Poultry manure, sheep - goat manure, herbage yield, Panicum maximum, WAD Shee